Effects of digital media technology-driven film and television scene design on audience immersion and narrative cognition: an eye-tracking experiment
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Digital media technology increasingly shapes film and television scene design, but evidence remains limited on how technology-driven scene treatments influence viewers' attention, immersion, and narrative cognition within the same experimental framework. This study used a randomized between-groups design with 360 valid adult participants (180 per condition). Participants viewed matched low- and high-digital-media versions of the same narrative scene and completed an immersion measure and an objective narrative-cognition test while eye-tracking data were recorded. Visual attention to pre-defined key narrative areas of interest (AOIs) was examined as a potential mediating mechanism. Controlling for gender, age, viewing frequency, digital-media familiarity, and prior VR experience, the high-digital-media version was associated with greater immersion ( B = 1.085, SE = 0.048), greater narrative cognition ( B = 1.208, SE = 0.056), and greater attention to key narrative AOIs ( B = 0.109, SE = 0.007); the three models accounted for 59.1, 57.7, and 44.0% of the variance respectively. Bootstrapped indirect effects were consistent with partial mediation by attention to narrative AOIs for immersion (a × b = 0.170, 95% CI [0.094, 0.248]) and narrative cognition (a × b = 0.225, 95% CI [0.126, 0.324]). Replacing fixation proportion with total fixation duration reproduced the pattern for immersion (a × b = 0.136, 95% CI [0.004, 0.275]) but not for narrative cognition (a × b = 0.020, 95% CI [−0.132, 0.167]). These findings suggest that digital media technology can support narrative experience when technological features are coordinated with story-relevant visual cues rather than functioning as isolated spectacle. Because both conditions were implemented in one matched pair of clips, condition is fully confounded with stimulus identity (stimulus sampling), and the results describe these two clips rather than digital media scene design as a class. Because the sample also consisted mainly of young adults, the findings should be generalized cautiously. Replication with multiple independently validated stimulus sets analyzed with stimulus as a random factor, additional genres, and broader participant groups is warranted.
Source: Frontiers in Psychology
Author: Lingling Shen
Language: English
Topic: Media Influence and Health
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W7223131915